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In a recent conference held by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Minister Nguyen Ngoc Thien said that this year, the industry was assigned by the Government to fulfill the target of welcoming 15-17 million foreign tourists. This is a difficult and important task.
Tourism is considered as a smokeless industry which brings considerable revenue for Vietnam’s economy. However, the industry’s itinerary still faces challenges to keep up with the growth of countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. With the target, Vietnam will keep pace with the growth of Indonesia.
Head of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Van Tuan said the results of 2017 are the first step and not worthy of Vietnam’s natural resources and conditions. The industry still has many obstacles, barriers and weaknesses that need to be addressed, including internal problems such as tourist product development, promotion, quality control, improvement of human resources quality and destination management.
The obstacles are visa policy to create the most favourable conditions for tourists, promotion, aviation connectivity and improvement of the quality of ground services, and management of destinations to develop a friendly and safe image for Vietnam’s tourism.
Mr Tuan emphasized that the task of greeting 16-17 million foreigners in 2018 is very difficult, and requires the entire industry to take the initiative, exert efforts and coordinate with relevant agencies and localities, especially key areas, to maintain the growth of foreign and domestic tourists.
Since the beginning of the year, the VNAT has actively carried out promotion activities in major markets, and renewed promotion programs to improve effectiveness. Provinces and cities should cooperate closely in organizing promotion activities which should not be arranged separately.
The sector will collaborate with both domestic and international aviation to increase the frequency of existing flight routes and establish new routes from major markets to hot spots which have much potential, such as Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hue and Van Don (Quang Ninh).
In addition, the industry should enhance management of destinations to ensure safety and environmental sanitation at tourist sites. This issue needs close coordination among related ministries, departments, branches and localities, because this is considered an on-site promotion activity aimed at visitor satisfaction.
It will also enhance cooperation with localities to create changes and breakthroughs in two specific issues, including completing investment in standard toilets at tourist sites and areas, and launching the volunteer student movement to overcome the lack of tourist guides./.